Frequently Asked Questions

This collection of documents released by the CWGC is a valuable
new resource for researchers and the public. To get the most out of
these records, you may require some additional information. This
FAQ section and glossary provides additional information, making it
easier for you to interpret the records you access.

Disclaimer

This collection of documents relating
to the First World War was assembled by the Commonwealth War
Graves Commission and its predecessors as part of the processes
involved in the commemoration of individuals. As a result, they
contain many corrections and alterations which reflect their use as
working documents. For further information concerning the history
of the collection, please see our About Our Records page.

Please be advised that some of the
documents, especially the burial returns and exhumation reports,
may contain information which some people may find distressing. The
original archive records and their digital copies remain the
property of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, but are
available for re-use for private and non-commercial purposes.

Answer:

The following types of documents are available to download from
the CWGC Casualty Database. Please click on each document type to
find out what information they contain and how they were used by
the CWGC.

Grave Registration Reports (Final)

Grave Registration Reports (GRRs) are standard forms which
record details of all graves for which the CWGC is responsible.
They provide basic details of the individuals, such as name,
service number, rank, regiment, unit and date of death, and are
listed in Plot, Row and Grave order. The CWGC used GRRs only for
burials in countries where it was responsible for registering
graves. Where the Army Graves Service was responsible for
registration, the CWGC was supplied with a document called a
Certified Comprehensive Report, which contained similar information
to a GRR. GRRs contain a number of abbreviated words and phrases.
Please consult our glossary for details.

Grave Registration Reports (Working Copy)

These are draft working copies of the final Grave Registration
Reports and are indicated as such by being completely struck
through as 'Cancelled' or 'Removed'. Often these refer to
graves that were either reorganised within a cemetery or removed
(in particular the graves of foreign
nationals). As a result, the grave details shown in these
documents may differ from those shown in the final version.

Registers

After the end of the First World War, the CWGC compiled a full list
of all of the war dead it was responsible for commemorating. These
registers were produced on a cemetery-by-cemetery or
memorial-by-memorial basis, and eventually ran to 1,500 volumes.
They contain an entry for each individual, with details of their
rank, regiment, unit and date of death. Many of the entries also
include additional information such as next of kin details and, on
occasion, some information about how they died. These register
images are taken from a master set of registers kept by the CWGC
which were used and revised by staff as new information came to
light, hence they may contain many amendments.

Alternative Commemoration Documents

These are collections of grave registration documents for graves
and cemeteries that have been lost or abandoned. Sites were abandoned
for many reasons, but most commonly because the grave or cemetery
could not be maintained due to restricted physical access to a
site. As a result, the individuals were alternatively commemorated at a different
location, usually on a memorial.

Burial Returns

These are lists of individuals who have been recovered or exhumed from
their original burial location, and moved or concentrated to a particular cemetery. They
provide basic details of the individual, but in addition may also
include information as to their original location prior to burial
(which in many cases is simply a trench map
grid reference), and occasionally some details of how the
individual war dead were identified. Exhumations occur when
removing remains from a formal place of burial, whereas recoveries
occur when remains are discovered but have not been formally
buried.

Concentration Cemetery Documents

These are collections of grave registration documents which record
details of individuals who were originally buried in smaller or
isolated cemeteries, but who at a later date were exhumed and
reburied (concentrated) in war
cemeteries for ease of maintenance. An example of this would be
individuals moved from Rosenberg Chateau to Berks Cemetery
Extension.

Exhumation Reports

These are documents which were produced when the war dead were exhumed in
order to move them into a war cemetery or to confirm their identity.
They generally include details of physique, dentistry, clothing,
and equipment and can provide some location information about the
initial burial. Examples are rare during the First World War and
most of the exhumations occurred in the 1930s.

Verification Forms

These forms were posted by the CWGC to the next-of-kin listed by
the service authorities following the end of the
First World War. They contain the individual's basic details (name,
rank, regiment, number and date of death), plus any further
information provided by the next-of-kin, such as their chosen personal inscription, religious emblem, age
and details of the next-of-kin. The CWGC used these documents to
verify the information within its' own records, and to ensure the
correct information was engraved on any headstones or memorials
produced. Unfortunately, around 99% of the Final Verification forms
for First World War were destroyed during the Second World War.

Headstone Schedule (Originals)

These documents provide details of what was actually inscribed
on a headstone. Most headstones for the graves of Commonwealth
forces conform to a basic layout of details:

Regimental badge and layout code

Service number and rank

Initial(s), surname and military decorations

Regiment or unit

Date of death and age

Religious emblem

Personal inscription

Schedules for the First World War run to two pages in length,
with the details of the individual on the first page and the
personal inscription, if any, on the second. The CWGC used these
documents to help manage the enormous programme of headstone
production after the First World War.

Headstone Schedules (Appendices)

These records contain details of any special layouts that may
have been required for CWGC headstones.

While most CWGC headstones conform to a standard layout, there
are occasions when changes to this layout are required. For
example, where an individual is known to be buried in a particular
cemetery but the exact location of their grave is not known, a
headstone would be erected with the superscript 'BURIED ELSEWHERE
IN THIS CEMETERY'. Examples of inscription used include 'KNOWN TO
BE BURIED IN THIS CEMETERY' and 'BELIEVED TO BE BURIED IN THIS
CEMETERY'.

Panel Lists

These are lists of individuals commemorated on memorials, memorial
stones or screen walls. They reflect the details that
were inscribed on the individual memorial
panels. Documents will normally list individuals under either
regiment and rank sub-headings or individual entries which include
rank, name, regiment and date of death.

Panel List Addenda

These documents refer to individuals who may have been added to a
memorial at a later date, and who were therefore added to memorial
addenda
panels rather than the main memorial
panels.

Answer:

Many of these documents were created by military authorities and
not the CWGC, and therefore most of the alterations, crossings out,
and file references added to the documents were made during the
course of their work. For this reason, we are not able to explain
their meanings. For most of the CWGC's subsequent history, these
records were viewed as working documents, which were added to or
corrected as required. Amendments continued to be made to the
documents until 2011, when the decision was taken to process any
future corrections or changes electronically.

Answer:

The variety of documents available to download for any given
individual depends on a number of factors, including their place of
burial, the nature of their commemoration (e.g. on a memorial, or
with an individual headstone), whether any alterations had been
made to that commemoration, and the survival of the original
archive documents themselves. As a rule, individuals who appear on
memorials to the missing will have far fewer records related to
them simply because they do not have a known grave.

Answer:

During the Second World War, a number of records, including the
vast majority of FV forms relating to First World War war dead,
were destroyed. However, after the First World War the CWGC made
strenuous efforts to contact the next of kin of those who had died
in service during the war, and in many cases were successful. Where
an original headstone schedule records a personal inscription we
can be confident that contact was made with the next of kin at the
time.

Answer:

These documents represent the vast majority of the casualty records
that are held by the Commission, but not all. Due to the large
number of documents held and the logistics involved, documents are
being released in a phased approach with the initial release
relating to the First World War. The Commission intends to release
Second World War records at a later date. A small number of records
which contain more recent correspondence, including recent
discovery of remains cases, have not been made available in order
to comply with Data Protection law. The CWGC also holds other
historical records within its archive that relate to the history
and founding of the CWGC rather than the individuals we
commemorate. These are available to view, by prior appointment, at
the CWGC's Head Office in Maidenhead.

Answer:

The CWGC is responsible for ensuring each of the 1.7 million
Commonwealth war dead from the two world wars are commemorated. It
has, on occasion, been necessary to exhume and rebury individuals,
or to provide alternative commemorations for them. Sometimes, this
was done immediately after the war, when isolated graves or
smaller, battlefield cemeteries were moved into the sites you see
today to guarantee their continued care. More recently, this
occurred in the 1960's when the Indonesian government requested the
Commission to concentrate burials into a smaller number of large
sites.

Answer:

These documents represent the earliest records the CWGC holds
concerning the individuals it commemorates, and as a result are a
vital component of its historical archive. Since copies of these
records are now available online it is hoped that many research
requests can be answered with reference solely to the digital
images. Paper records are available for consultation at our Maidenhead Head Office, by prior
appointment.

Answer:

For recoveries of remains made immediately after the war, the
Graves Registration Units mainly used the British Army Trench maps
to indicate where the bodies had been recovered from. References
from these maps are normally in this format - 36.H.11.b.1.2. which
is a grid reference related to the grid system used in the maps
themselves. For further details about the military maps used and
how to interpret them, please contact The National Archives or the Imperial War Museum, who both hold
extensive libraries of these maps.